Since her years of accomplishment and service at Philip Barbour High School in the late 1990’s, Jessica Maunz Salfiahas drawn upon her family heritage and local experiences as springboards to a remarkable 15-year career as an educator, writer and advocate.
A member of the PBHS Class of 1999, Jessica’s cumulative 3.98 GPA speaks to her academic prowess, while her involvement in many school activities helped make her a constant source of Colt Pride. She served as an officer for the Class of ’99, as well as the Student Council, and was the National Honor Society secretary. In addition to her selection twice as Prom Court royalty and Winterfest Queen, she was named Miss Philip Barbour during her senior year.
As a standout year-round competitor, Jessica became the first female athlete at Philip Barbour to earn twelve letters on her way to Blue Chip trophies in three sports; volleyball, basketball and softball. Throughout her four years, she was named to various All-Conference athletic squads and was honored as the Big Ten Volleyball Player of the Year during both 1997 and 1998.
Her career in volleyball continued for four years at Alderson Broaddus University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree with the Class of 2003. Later, after earning her Master’s Degree from Shepherd University, she was presented with the Distinguished Student in Scholarship Award in 2012.
Coming from a family with a tradition of public school service, and a teacher herself now for more than fifteen years, Ms. Salfia has received numerous accolades. Among them, she was presented with an Arch Coal Teaching Award in 2015, was a finalist for Berkeley County Teacher of the Year in 2014, later earning that district’s TOY honor in 2016. In April of 2018, she received the prestigious Stephen L. Fisher Award in Teaching Excellence from the Appalachian Studies Association.
Beyond her significant work in the classroom, Jessica played a key role in rebuilding the West Virginia Council of Teachers of English (WVCTE) and currently serves as the organization president. She is a member of the Berkeley County Diversity Council, the Berkeley Teacher Advisory Committee and served on the ABU Alumni Council from 2014-2017.
Jessica also finds time for her passion for writing, especially in fiction and poetry. She has written and developed curriculum for West Virginia Public Broadcasting and her work has appeared over the past decade in the Charleston Gazette Mail, West Virginia Living magazine, the WVCTE Best Practices Blog and six different volumes of the Anthology of Appalachian Writers. Ms. Salfia was a co-editor of the recent documentary book, 55 Strong: Inside the West Virginia Teachers’ Strike. She was also the winner of the 2016 West Virginia Fiction Competition, as selected by Cold Mountain author, Charles Frazier.
Jessica Maunz Salfia is currently a teacher at Spring Mills High School in Martinsburg, where she teaches Advanced Placement Language and Composition and Creative Writing, and serves as advisor of the Diversity Club and the Literary and Art magazine. She also coordinates the Homecoming parade and mock interviews, and is a member of the SMHS Curriculum and Instruction Leadership Team. Jessica resides in Martinsburg with her husband, Mark Salfia, the associate principal at Spring Mills Middle School, and their children, Addison, Jayce and Dominic. She is the daughter of the Gary and Twila Smith and the late Phillip Maunz, and the granddaughter of Russell and Mary Lou Wagner.
A member of the PBHS Class of 1999, Jessica’s cumulative 3.98 GPA speaks to her academic prowess, while her involvement in many school activities helped make her a constant source of Colt Pride. She served as an officer for the Class of ’99, as well as the Student Council, and was the National Honor Society secretary. In addition to her selection twice as Prom Court royalty and Winterfest Queen, she was named Miss Philip Barbour during her senior year.
As a standout year-round competitor, Jessica became the first female athlete at Philip Barbour to earn twelve letters on her way to Blue Chip trophies in three sports; volleyball, basketball and softball. Throughout her four years, she was named to various All-Conference athletic squads and was honored as the Big Ten Volleyball Player of the Year during both 1997 and 1998.
Her career in volleyball continued for four years at Alderson Broaddus University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree with the Class of 2003. Later, after earning her Master’s Degree from Shepherd University, she was presented with the Distinguished Student in Scholarship Award in 2012.
Coming from a family with a tradition of public school service, and a teacher herself now for more than fifteen years, Ms. Salfia has received numerous accolades. Among them, she was presented with an Arch Coal Teaching Award in 2015, was a finalist for Berkeley County Teacher of the Year in 2014, later earning that district’s TOY honor in 2016. In April of 2018, she received the prestigious Stephen L. Fisher Award in Teaching Excellence from the Appalachian Studies Association.
Beyond her significant work in the classroom, Jessica played a key role in rebuilding the West Virginia Council of Teachers of English (WVCTE) and currently serves as the organization president. She is a member of the Berkeley County Diversity Council, the Berkeley Teacher Advisory Committee and served on the ABU Alumni Council from 2014-2017.
Jessica also finds time for her passion for writing, especially in fiction and poetry. She has written and developed curriculum for West Virginia Public Broadcasting and her work has appeared over the past decade in the Charleston Gazette Mail, West Virginia Living magazine, the WVCTE Best Practices Blog and six different volumes of the Anthology of Appalachian Writers. Ms. Salfia was a co-editor of the recent documentary book, 55 Strong: Inside the West Virginia Teachers’ Strike. She was also the winner of the 2016 West Virginia Fiction Competition, as selected by Cold Mountain author, Charles Frazier.
Jessica Maunz Salfia is currently a teacher at Spring Mills High School in Martinsburg, where she teaches Advanced Placement Language and Composition and Creative Writing, and serves as advisor of the Diversity Club and the Literary and Art magazine. She also coordinates the Homecoming parade and mock interviews, and is a member of the SMHS Curriculum and Instruction Leadership Team. Jessica resides in Martinsburg with her husband, Mark Salfia, the associate principal at Spring Mills Middle School, and their children, Addison, Jayce and Dominic. She is the daughter of the Gary and Twila Smith and the late Phillip Maunz, and the granddaughter of Russell and Mary Lou Wagner.